Luminous sign



Aug 4, 1942- F. GANTNER ETAL 2,291,957

LUMINoUs SIGN I Filed June s, 1939 2 sheets-sheet 1 KbQSQ l 1 I a n i ltube by capacitive means.

' external electrodes Yii desired. It is not been known that the usePatented Aug. 4, 1942 UNITED' STATES PATENT oEEicE l amuillsmsmu i u iand Ernst Sorter,

Vienna-Modling, Germany London, England appuaunnrune 9, 1939, serial No.zisss In Germany June 16, 1938 'z claims. (ci. ire-122) the particularrepresentadiier considerably in size.

- According to the invention the luminous repre-A sentation is combinedby directly connecting in parallel a number of tubes, each forming apart. e. g., a letter of the representation desired and in which bycapacitive means electric fields are using either individual com-- ifthe tubes to be used produced extending substantially transversely tothe tube wail. 1

In these tubes the current is passed transversely through 'the' vapor,or gas-niled space of the tubes, thereby dispensing with-the necessityof applying a different' voltage for-,each different length of tube, asfo case ofthose known luminous t be appliances in instance in the whichtubes are used, having their electrodes arranged at the ends ofthe tubeso as .to create a-current passing lengthwise through each tube.

Since in the casevof the tubes according to the invention, the samevoltage can be used for tubes of very die'rent lengths, such tubes canbe directly connected in'parallel without resulting in undesireddifferences of the illuminating effect of the individual tu Y i It isalready known, to operate a luminous using external electrodes in such amanner that opposite to the contact points of the electrodes with thetube -of the tube at some distance said bracket supporting a framecross-section. On

Electrodes are used with tend lengthwise of the -tube and face eachother. One or both of these electrodes may be arranged so as to touchthe tube wall either on the outside or insider-or may be embedded in thematerial of the tube wall or may be situated outside therefrom. In viewof the parallel connection of the tubes, as provided by the invention,tage to arrange one or both electrodes outside the tube wall or to havebecause thenthe wall a desirable 'manner as a ance.

Several embodimentsy of the invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents an elevation partly in secof each'tube acts itselfin kind of a series-resisttion of a sign board,

Figures 3-5 show transverse sections through luminous' tubes, eachfigure representing another arrangement of the electrodes, a

Figure 6 is atransverse section through a further modiiled form of atube and Figure 'I illustrates view an arrangement shown in Figure 6 isused.

According'to Figures 1 and 2, a bracket 2 is fixed on a casing l whichisv open in front, the

3 of U-shaped and its electrodes,

metal rails I, '5 which are electrically insulated from one another. Asecondipair of such metal rails 8,11 is arranged lower down in the'casing l in a similar manner to the rails l, 5. The two pairs of railsl, 5 and 6,v 1 are connectedup in parallel to one another' and may beconnected up through a plug and socket connection! to a wall a glowdischarge corresponding to the shape of these electrodes is produced inthe interior of the tube. In this case the whole luminous representationis effected by one single tube, the

the. object oi this known arrangement, to combine ently shaped tubes forthe formation of one luminous representation and it. has not hitherto oftransverse. currents oners a particularly convenient way of connectingin parallel any number of tubes of various lengths. These tubes may evenbe of an exceptionally small size.

of which may be exchanged,

a plurality of dier- -l -frequency is not shown source of high frequencyIl.

frequency generators in the art, e. g. in-

constructions of such high are known to those skilled duction coils ortransmitters and any of these known high frequency generators. can `lbeemployed.

Finally, lower down stillinthe casing l a third f pair of conductorrails I2,- i3 is'fltted which may be constructed and mounted in the samemanner.

as the conductor rails 4, i and i, 1'. vThe rails I2, i3, however, areshown in the form of two comparatively thick wires. in order toillustrate that various structural forms of thepairs of coii-y each tubewhich ex.

it is of particular advan them embedded therein,v

the frame I are xed twol The source of high in detail, since variousl Ilike and is provided on by the length of ductors are invention.

A plurality of illuminating tubes are connected in parallel to each ofthe three pairs of conductors 4, 5; 6, 1 and I2, I3 respectively asshown. Each or the tubes is suitably shaped to form a possible withoutdeparting from the part of the desired illuminated display matter,l

sired part of the representation, having the shape of the letter Y inthe example illustrated. The tube I5 is iilled with a rareed rare gas orthe the outside of its walls 6 and I1, all the strips being connected upto one with conducting strips I IB and all the strips I1 another. Thetubes may be provided with sock-` ets I8, the contacts I9 and 20 ofwhich are connected up with the conducting stripsy I6 andv I1. If asocket I8 is pushed between the limbs of the carrier 3 then contactsprings I 9' and 20'. connected to the contacts I9 and 20 bear againstthe conductor rails 4 and 5. If the source of high frequency with whichthe conductor rails 4 and 5 are connected is switched on, then theconducilluminated panel and comprising tubes the tor strips I6 and I1carried by the tube Il act as the plates of a condenser and the tubelights up under the action of the condenser lle'ld formed transverselyto the axis of the tube, a definite color of light being emitted by thetube corresponding to the gas filling. The color and intensity of theemitted light can be influenced by suitable choice of the gas pressure,the nature and the color of the material from which the tube wall ismade (e. g. colored or fluorescent glass, certain artiiicial resins andthe like), the wall thickness of the tubes, and by substances enclosedin the tube which promote the light emitted or vary the color of thelight.

By applying suitable substances to the inner wall of the tube it ispossible to reduce the ignition tension which can be of considerableimportance for starting up the illumination.

The conducting strips I5 and I'II whichact as condenser electrodesextend substantially over the entire length of the illuminated characteror other element, that is to say, in the casel of the example described,the letter Y. 'The most intensive light action voccurson the wall of thetube in the region of the electrodes I6, I1.

'I'he electrodes I6 and I1 may be constructed in various ways, forinstance in the form of coatings applied to the tube wall consisting ofa conv' ductive material mixed with a binder, for instance varnish. Theelectrodes may also be formed by spraying metal on the wall of the tubeby the Schoop process or by applying tinfoil coatings, thin wires and'so on.

In order to. obtain any desired inscription, a plurality of tubes areconnected up lr parallel, as shown in Figure 1, to the same pair ofconductors 4, 5; 6, 1 or I2, I3. In the rst line, by way oi' example,four tubes are used and in the second and third lines eight tubes each.1The number of the tubes which may be employed is only limited theconductor rails I, 2 and con-v second electrode I1" length of whichvaries in some cases very considerably from one another. If for instanceinstead of the four letters comprising the word York it is desired touse or less letters, then thefour tubes shown would be removed andsubstituted by other tubes lnserted between the conductors I, 5.

Instead of tubes, as above described-,each bel ing provided with asocket for'connectngthem up to the source of current, they may beconnected up in some other Way, for instance bymeans of terminals,suspension hooks, rings, brackets. contact pins or the like tted on .therear of the tube. A method of connecting the tubes to a pair of currentconductors by means of clips is shown in the lowermost part (third lineof the illuminated panel) illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. 'I'he clips,one of which is connected with each electrode of the corresponding tube,are marked-2l and 22.

The condenser electrodes I6, I1 need not be arranged outside of the wallof the tube even though, as already mentioned, it is advantageous forthem to be so arranged, but they may comprise conducting strips whichare located on the inner wallof the tube (Fig. 3) or are embedded in theglass itself (Fig. 4). f

Under certain circumstances it may be of advantage to provide the tubeshaving the form of letters, written characters or the like with areecting-coating I1' on the rear side in the manner shown in Figure 5,the said coating being capable of acting as one of the condensercoatings. The other condenser coating I5 may for example be formed by aWire.

It is further not always necessary for the two condenser surfaces to belocated directly on the wall of the tube but it may be advantageous insome cases to employ tubes as shown in Figures 6 and 7, in which onlyone of the condenser electrodes I6" is carried by the tube Wall, the ofall the tubes is common and formed by a plate situated behind the tubes.The plate I1" is connected up by means of a wire 23 to one pole of thesource of high frequency, while the other pole of the source of highfrequency is connected up by means of the conductor 24 to a bus-bar 25to which thesockets 26 of the illumina.. '1g tubes are clamped by meansof clamping screws 21. The clamping screws are provided with slots 28 sothat the tubes can be displaced easily lengthwise of the bar 25 and canalso be readily lifted oi for the purpose of exchanging them.l In somecases also both condenser electrodes may be arranged separately iromthetubes, e. g. in the form of two plates| located parallel to one another,and between which the tubes are located.

Various effects can be obtained by varying the manner in which thecondenser electrodes are constructed and arranged. For instance theelectrodes may be made narrow and extend exactly in the vertical centralplane of the tubes,

any other word having more prising a letter will be illuminated exactly'at the contours so that the letter will be particularly distinct toread. By making the metal coatings wider or narrower, the contour may bemade to stand out more or less sharply while by interrupting thecoatings, individual parts of the tubes may be prevented from lightingup.

With regard to the use of fluorescent glassv for the tube wall,'as abovementioned, such fluorescent properties may be utilized in a particularlyfavourable manner if at least one of the condenser electrodes is inimmediate contact with the glass wall, since in this case| the glassitself is particularly strongly excited, which also holds good for thesubstances provided in the tube.

It may further be remarked that the tubes A need not comprisecylindrical tubular-elements but may be of any desired shape, as forinstance the shape of a figure of an animal or the like.

Owing tothe fact that -each of the individualtubes excited by currentflowing transversely through it is connected up in parallel to thecurrent conductors, the tubes which are connected up in parallel forforming an illuminated representation may be illuminated at differentsuccessive intervals by a suitable switching mechanism, asingle tube ordifferently combined groups of tubes being capable of being illuminatedat will without any special precaution being necessary in order to allowfor differ` ent lengths of the tubes.

arranged exteriorly of the tube lling along linesv parallel to thecontour lines of the sign char-l y acter, facing each other alongsubstantially the whole length ofthe tube, said electrodes being theonly electrodes of the tube so as to convey all the energy needed forstarting and operating the tube when connected with a high frequencycurrent source, each of the two electrodes consisting of at leastonevmetallic conductor, the conductors belonging to one velectrode and.the

.conductors belonging to the other electrode respectively beinginterconnected on the tube itself.

2. Luminous tube according to claim 1, at least one of the electrodesbeing in the form of a wire.

3. A gasor vapor filled luminous tube comprising a. transparent envelopesubstantially in the shape of sign characters and two electrodes securedto the material of said envelope alongY lines parallel to the contourlines of the sign character, facing each other along substantially thewhole length of the tube so as to convey all the energy needed forstarting and operatingthe tube when connected with a high frequencycurrent source, each of the two electrodes consisting of at least onemetallic conductor, the conductors belonging to one electrode and theconductors belonging to the other electrode respectively beinginterconnected on the tube itself.

. 4. A gasor vapor filled luminous tube comprising a transparentenvelope substantially in the shape of sign characters and twoelectrodes arranged exteriorly of the tube filling along lines parallelto the contour lines of the sign character, facing each other alongsubstantially the whole length of the tube so as to convey all theenergy needed for starting and operating the tube when connected with ahigh frequency current source, each of the two electrodes consisting ofat least one metallic conductor, the conductors belonging to oneelectrode and the con ductors belonging to the other electroderespectively being interconnected on the tube itself, said metallicconductors being constituted by metallic lms applied to the outersurface of the envelope and integrated rwith the material of saidenvelope.

5. A gasor vapor filled luminous tubecomprising a transparent envelopesubstantially in the shape of signcharacters and two electrodes appliedlengthwise to such envelope for establishing between them electric eldsextending substantially transversely to the side walls of said 'envelopewhen said electrodes are con,-

' substantially the whole length of these contour source, a pair ofconductor rails electrically connected with the two poles respectivelyof a high frequency current source, said electrodes extending parallelto the con-tour lines of the sign character for substantially the wholelength of said contour lines, at least one of the electrodes beingseparated from the tube lling by at least a part of the thickness ofthematerial of said ensource, a plurality of removable and interchangeablegasor vapor filled luminoustubes in the shape of sign characters eachtube having a transparent envelope, two electrodes rmly applied to saidenvelope along lines parallel to the contour lines of the respectivesign character fr spectively being interconnected on the tube itself.

7. In combination a high frequency current nected with said currentsource, a plurality of removable and interchangeable gasor vapor' sameend of the tube for a sliding contact with said pair of conductor rails.

FERDINAND GANTNER. ERNST SORTER.

